Kennesaw, Ga. - Heidelberg USA has issued a new white paper focusing on security issues unique to modern printing facilities. Entitled, "24 Ways A Printer Can Avoid Being Hacked," the white paper views security, not as an unnecessary added cost, but as a real competitive advantage printers overlook at their peril.

Security and privacy issues have taken on new urgency in light of stepped-up cyber attacks, virus infestations and network break-ins that target complex IT infrastructures and vital information processes. Unfortunately, back-up and data protection are not always a top priority for printers until job data loss and significant downtime occur, due to accidental data deletion, hardware failure, lost or stolen removable media-even natural disaster. As a result, printers may fail to take appropriate steps to safeguard employee or customer information, or to keep production running smoothly in spite of threats to plant security. The reality, however, is that no individual or company is immune.

"Until the unthinkable happens, printers typically do not see themselves as potential targets for attack," said Eugene O'Brien, Senior Technical Specialist, Prinect and CtP Services, Heidelberg, USA, author of the white paper. "But as printers provide more and more Internet-based products and services to their customers, every company has a responsibility to evaluate its security risks and determine the best security practices to implement. '24 Ways A Printer Can Avoid Being Hacked' is a practical guide to recognizing common security threats and taking effective measures to reduce or eliminate them."

"24 Ways A Printer Can Avoid Being Hacked" describes both common methods used by hackers to disrupt and exploit other computer networks as well as common security lapses that invite such attacks. It explodes mistakenly held beliefs about the security of IT systems, and urges printers to show they take security and privacy seriously by adopting a proactive approach toward fending off unknown threats from outside and inside their companies. It also recommends that printers use industry-standard, vendor-recommended best practices to secure their plants.Such measures include:

Assigning a Chief Security Officer to establish policies and procedures to help limit exposure and liability

Conducting a Vulnerability Assessment to identify areas of need

Establishing an Acceptable Use Policy for managing access to the Internet

Whether a security threat is intentional or accidental, internal or external, it has an impact on production and ultimately costs a company money. As "24 Ways A Printer Can Avoid Being Hacked" makes clear, the best way to survive a cyber-attack is to be prepared for it.